Atty. Stephen F. Arcano
Stephen F. Arcano, a corporate partner in Skadden’s New York office, concentrates primarily in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters.
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About Stephen F. Arcano at a glance
Stephen F. Arcano is a m&a attorney based in New York, New York, practicing at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Admitted to practice in New York, New York State Bar Association. Educated at Georgetown University (J.D., 1989). Recognitions include Best Lawyers in America — Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2026), Best Lawyers in America — Additional Areas of Practice: (2026), and Best Lawyers in America — International Mergers and Acquisitions (2026). Serands clients in New York, NY and the surrounding metropolitan area.
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About
- Stephen F. Arcano, a corporate partner in Skadden’s New York office, concentrates primarily in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters
- Mr. Arcano is practice leader of the firm’s New York Mergers and Acquisitions Group
- Mr. Arcano has worked on a variety of high-profile mergers and acquisitions representing acquirers, sellers and targets, including Mobil Corporation in its merger with Exxon Corporation
- XTO Energy in its acquisition by Exxon Mobil Corporation
- Gilead Sciences, Inc. in its acquisition of Pharmasset, Inc., a transaction that was recognized in the 2012 Financial Times “US Innovative Lawyers” report
- Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of Bausch & Lomb and its merger with Biovail Corporation
- Dean Foods Company (as co-counsel) in its sale of the Morningstar Foods division to Saputo Inc
- and The Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. in its acquisition of the eSpeed trading platform from BGC Partners, Inc. Mr. Arcano also represented the special committee of Time Warner Cable in TWC’s separation from Time Warner Inc
- Immunex Corporation in its acquisition by Amgen, Inc
- Agere Systems Inc. in its acquisition by LSI Logic Corporation
- ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its acquisition of the publicly held shares of Ribapharm Inc
- and Validus Holdings, Limited in its unsolicited acquisition of IPC Holdings, Limited
- Mr. Arcano has represented a variety of clients in cross-border transactions, includingAlcatel in its merger with Lucent Technologies Inc. and in its acquisition of DSC Communications Corporation
- the Bertarelli Family and Serono S.A. in connection with the acquisition of Serono by Merck KGaA
- Dean Foods in its acquisition of Alpro N.V
- MacMillan Bloedel Limited in its acquisition by Weyerhaeuser Company
- BTR plc in the sale of its global packaging business to Owens-Illinois, Inc
- and VNU N.V.in its acquisition of Nielsen Media Research Inc. In leveraged buyout transactions, Mr. Arcano has represented sellers, buyout groups and management
- Examples include representing Gardner Denver, Inc. in its acquisition by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co
- Greenfield Partners in its acquisition of Clayton Holdings, Inc
- Jerry Moyes in his leveraged acquisition of Swift Transportation Co., Inc
- the special committee of Insight Communications Company, Inc. in Insight’s acquisition by affiliates of the Carlyle Group and founders Sidney Knafel and Michael Wilner
- the management board of Celanese AG in the acquisition of Celanese by affiliates of the Blackstone Group
- Vulcan Capital in its acquisition of Plains Resources Inc
- Dan Wassong in the acquisition of Del Laboratories by affiliates of Kelso & Co
- IMC Global, Inc. in the sale of its salt and related businesses to affiliates of Apollo Management
- and Johns Manville Corporation in the sale of Riverwood International Corporation to affiliates of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
- In addition, Mr. Arcano has represented major investment banking firms as financial advisors in significant transactions, including Centerview Partners LLC as financial advisor to MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its acquisition by Allergan, Inc
- Goldman, Sachs & Co. as financial advisor to: Micromet, Inc. in its acquisition by Amgen Inc
- The Servicemaster Company in its acquisition by an investor group led by affiliates of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
- Schering-Plough Corp. in its acquisition of Organon BioSciences from Akzo Nobel N.V
- and The Quaker Oats Company in its merger with PepsiCo, Inc. Mr. Arcano represented Deutsche Bank Securities as financial advisor to Fairpoint Communications, Inc. in its acquisition of the Northeastern wireline business of Verizon Communications Inc. in a “Reverse Morris Trust” transaction, and to Calpine Corporation in the sale of oil and gas assets to Rosetta Resources, Inc
- Evercore as financial advisor to the strategic transaction committee of ACS in its acquisition by Xerox, and to Intel in its acquisition of Infineon
- and Greenhill & Co. as financial advisor to Roche in its acquisition of Genentech, and to Alcon in its acquisition by Novartis
- He also advised Merrill Lynch & Co. as financial advisor to Celgene Corporation in its acquisition of Penn T Limited
- Lehman Brothers Inc. as financial advisor to Alco Standard Corporation in its spin-off of Unisource Worldwide, Inc
- Morgan Stanley & Co., Goldman, Sachs and RBC Dominion Securities as financial advisors to Inco Limited in connection with various transactions culminating in the acquisition of Inco by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce
- and Morgan Stanley andLehman Brothers Inc. as financial advisors to Electronic Data Systems Corporation in its split-off from General Motors Corporation
- Mr. Arcano repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
- He also has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America and IFLR1000
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Why local counsel matters in New York
Practicing law in New York. Legal matters in New York are governed by state-specific rules of civil and criminal procedure, statutes of limitations, and substantive law. Cases originating in New York are typically filed in the local municipal court or the appropriate New York state district court, depending on subject matter and amount in controversy. An attorney licensed in New York brings working knowledge of local procedural deadlines, judicial practices in this andnue, and the substantive law that applies to cases brought here. Out-of-state attorneys generally cannot represent clients in New York courts without local counsel or pro hac vice admission.
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